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Verk§n HsweBailey 



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Copyright, 1892, by Fanny D. Sweeny. 



Printed bv J. B. Lippincott Comp 



BAY LEAVES. 



A world of marsh that borders a world of sea, 

Sinuous southward and sinuous northward the shimmering l)and 

Of the sand-beach, fastens the fringe of the marsh to the folds of the land. 

********** 
How ample the marsh, and the sea, and the sky ! 

A league and a league of marsh grass, waist high, broad in the blade. 
Stretch leisurely off in a pleasant plain, to the terminal blue of the main. 
Oh, what is abroad in the marsh and the terminal sea? 
Somehow my soul seems suddenly free from the weighing of fate. 

********** 
Ye marshes, how candid and simple, and nothing-withholding, and free ; 
Tolerant plains, that suffer the sea and the rains, and the sun. 
Ye spread and span like the catholic man who hath mightily won 
God out of knowledge, and good out of infinite pain. 

And the sea lends large, as the marsh ; lo, out of his plenty the sea 

Fours fast, full soon the time of the flood-tide must be ; 

Look how the grace of the sea doth go 

About and about through the intricate channels that flow 

Here and there, 

Everywhere — 

Till his waters have flooded the uttermost creeks and the low-lying lanes, 

And the marsh is washed with a million veins, 

That like as with rosy and silvery essences flow. 

In the rose and silver evening glow. 

Suincy Lamer. 



BAY LEAVES. 




N Island always pleases my im- 
:^ao-ination, even the small- 



est, as a small continent 

|^K^»^^^^^^| ^ Jl JlJIIf""""* and integral portion of 

^mJ-^W^^^^^ ,f the globe. Even a bare, 

grassy isle which I can 
see over at a glance has some undefined and mys- 
terious charm for me." 

So felt one of Nature's enthusiasts, and so must 
it have seemed to the man whose rugged face is 
pictured here. 

7 



This pioneer, Thomas Bond, has been but one of 
many that have found this narrow strip of shining- 
sand, with its meadows stretching to the bay, a 
restful place, and can say, " Here give me health 
and a day and I make the pomp of emperors 
ridiculous." 

A bare, grassy isle in truth, but the weeds have 
virtues to be given to those that seek, and it is gain 
" to w^in the secret of a weed's plain heart." 

We may think, as did David Copperfield on his 
visit to Yarmouth, " If the world was really as round 
as his geography book said, how any part of it came 
to be so flat." 

The island is separated from "the main" by a 
strong arm of the sea, as if Ocean jealously guarded 
the lonely land in its orphanage. From remote time, 

9 



known, but unsought, unappreciated, it has rested 
between the bay and the ocean. 

Its long stretches of meadow, the haunt of the 

wild-fowl, and Nature's wild music, the scream of 

birds, the wailing of the winds, and the " roar 

of waters steady, deep, and strong," the only har- 

, monies. 

This long, low, seemingly barren isle, plain, with 
no distinction, has fascinations. Yes, sphinx-like, she 
hath her riddle to be read, and we it is that lack 
both open eye and ear. But, some day, when we 
stand, with only sky, and wave, and shore, "bathed 
in the blithe air and uplifted by infinite space, all 
mean egotism vanishes," and the secret is ours. 

Color, form, and sound, will reveal to us their 
myriad beauty, and we will know that Nature's 
13 



manuscript may be read here as clearly and as 
deeply as in any other place. 

She melted int<j jmrple cloudy 
She silvered in the moon, 
She spired into a yellow flame, 
She flowered in blossom red, 
She floweth into a foaming wave. 







This green ribbon of land called "Long Beach" 
rises scarcely above die sea, except for die dunes 
of sand stretching from Brigantine to Barnegat. A 
weak sea-wall against the waters that beat with 
bitter force along twenty miles of coast line. Here 
upon the outlying shore lurk hidden dangers, here 
are tossed the gifts of sea and shell, and, upon the 
high billows, sometimes is brought a sad freightage, 
which brave men strive in vain to rescue and give 
back to life. When the stroller, on a fair day, look- 
ing towards Barnegat, sees the mirage near the 
coast, the thouMit comes of the forces of nature 
surrounding the .treacherous shore, to warn or lure ? 

In marked contrast to the sublime sea, with its 
untamable strength, is the serene beauty of the bay. 
Looking to the west as the sun retires into its " tent 
17 



^^ 




19 



of dropping clouds," one has a vision of wonderful 
color, and we know diat die beauty of die landscape 
is our inheritance. Each foot of soil, as some one 
says, may have its "warranty deed," strong and 
true, but this all-pervading beauty is mine, is 
yours. 

The land is not barren, a mere sandy beach. 
The surface is covered with vegetation, except a 
marginal line of white, shining sand, whose brilliancy 
has been commented upon as unusual. 

The Bay-berry covers the soil from sea to 
meadow ; countless swallows, garrulous beneath their 
roof of bay, make these bushes their resting place. 
The uprising of these birds in the early morning, 
with their swift, glancing wings cut against the sky, 
make a line picture of singular beauty. That 



sovereign naturalist, Dr. Leidy, who knew of 
the rich botanical resources 

of this little isle '^^/--^^^^■■'^^W^^^' 

as no one else, woul/have 4^:v^M'^^^^^^^^^^ 

named the bay-berry, 

or candle-berry as it c^^SCf' 

is called further south, a 

species of the wax- myrtle. li 

The same plant, Kalm in- ^^^ 

forms us, from the berries 




of which the early settlers obtained a wax to make 
candles and an agreeable-smelling soap. 

Thoreaii says that in Beverley's "History of 
Virginia," published in 1705, mention is made of the 
myrtle, and how the settlers made a hard, britde 
wax from it : 

'* Of this they make candles which are never 
greasy to the touch, nor melt with lying in the 
hottest weather, neither does the snuff of them 
ever offend the smell like that of a tallow candle, 
but, instead of being disagreeable, it yields a pleasant 
fragrance to all that are in the room, insomuch that 
nice people often put them out on purpose to have 
the incense of the expiring snuff!" 

The bay bushes have such a sturdy quality, that 
no burning of the undergrowth, or cutting to the 
25 



earth, will eradicate them. When the leaves and 
tender shoots are bruised, the stimulating fragrance 
suggests the odor of the West India Bay. 

From early spring until late autumn some Hower 
with new beauty may be found, many nameless to 
the chance stroller, others favorites of all time. The 
briar-rose making the wayside glow, the primrose 
and the pink stars of the sebacea covering the 
meadow-land. A wild garden from which one may 
choose their favorite. Here, in the shadow of the 
dune, resting under the wide-spreading branches of 
the wild-plum, laden with its many-tinted fruit, one 
may stretch out their hand and gather roses, the 
lilies not far away. Near, in a nook, is a pool of 
water, clear and sweet, bordered by the golden rod, 
the iris, and many a tiny flower. In the distance, 
27 



on the west, is the shore-line ; between are miles of 
rippHng tinted waters, with the yachts (lacking only 
in picturesqueness the coloring of the sails of 
foreign boats) seeking blue inlets, and with their 
crews of merry men finding fast the riches for which 
the bay is noted. 

Who would sigh for another scene, but the rest- 
less, discontented one, or the one who is unwilling 
to fling the load of custom down, " like drift-weed 
on the sand-slopes brown." 

We may eat the lotus here if we wish, 

"Where the soft, spreading down 
Sinks away to the sea, 
That has crept from the lea ; 
Crept so quiet and slow, 
That the marsh scarce can know 
Be it water or land, 
So thick the reeds stand. 

31 



"And the great crimson sun 
Drops slow down the sky, 
Where vast meadows lie 
Washed warm in the flush ; 
There, through the world's hush, 
Earth's sweet, solemn speech 
Our faint sense may reach, 
With its tale of one more day's fate done. 



3^ 




^ HIS locality has its stories. One 
gifted with the keenness of in- 
sight and the simplicity of style 
that such work needs, may here 
find materials for character study. 
The flotsam of the sea, a sug- 
gestive of histories that require but 
little imagination to weave them into 
forms both weird and sad. 
There are even tales of buried treasure. Several 
years ago, near the "Three Cedars," the point where 

35 



j(|^. the old inlet used to exist, but now filled in 

by the sea, digging was 

begun by determined- 

dil-'^— /^^ - ^*W^"^^^^^ „ lookino- men, 

^^' " who used old 

Spanish charts to guide 

'^J^i \\ ^^^^""^ ""* their operations. 

While at work they were 

surprised by men from 




37 



Bond's Life-Saving Station," and hastily left, leaving 
(iT" an old sword, which showed that it had 
been taken from the earth but re- 



cently. But for this fact one might 
" > believe the story a myth. 




^4*^ 



itT^x%J 




No deed of sea-king can be 
told and verified, but there are 
many oft-related tales of the lawless (1^ ^^) 



39 







"km v^ 




' mm ~ 




m m 



operations on the Barnegat shores in past years. 
Wrecks were then frequent, and spoils from heavily- 
freighted ships most valuable. Now the Light- 

« 

House, one of the best equipped on the Atlantic 
Coast, and the "Life-Saving Stations," at distances 
of five miles, give protection. 

One creature, sole survivor from an ill-fated 
vessel, deserves to have an item of notice. This 




lonely kitten, from the far-off " Isle of Man," was 
found clinging to a spar one early morning after a 

43 



storm. But this is "a tale that cannot be told;" 
the absence of tail proved her pedigree, and her 
descendants, canny Manx cats, with tortoise-shell 
markings, are found in many places on the island. 



45 



This little isle has c^^^^'^^''^^^ Q\~^*/\ 



for many years formed 



C^,.T^ .^,^M..^ 



t>^ 



the happy hunting o;-rounds for '^^^y~ 
sportsmen. In its early history, fi'W^m 

the deer from the mainland were v^ ' 

c: 

tracked across the shallower parts of the C;^ 
bay and there captured. The larger game has long 
since ceased to exist ; but the sport afforded by both 
water and marsh for fishing and gunning is still as 
great, and added to this is the deep-sea fishing, that 
most exciting of sports. 

47 



Here the blue-fish, at certain seasons, are caught 
in quantities, and one cannot but speculate, if the 
effort and appliances were greater, a Beach Haven 
blue-fish might become as well known as a Yarmouth 
bloater. Thousands of this most edible fish are 
caught without effort. 

In the case of the Yarmouth and Scotch fisheries, 
according to statistics, there are more than one 
thousand vessels and eight thousand men employed, 
and the nets used by the combined fisheries are 
long enough to reach from Liverpool to New York 
four times. Neither the herrine nor the mackerel 
is superior to the blue-fish properly prepared, and 
although the supply in the case of this fish would 
never be as great, yet its superior quality might 
yet make it a limited industry. 

49 



But why suggest industry ; seemingly there is 
no need. All wants may be supplied without great 
effort, and labor, with its primeval curse, may be 
thought of as not existing. Here Nature spreads 
a dainty table for man's physical needs, and one 
may only spend a June or a September to find the 
higher wants of his beincr in their fullness, and 
realize the gracious bounty of this little isle, giving 
of "her wealth, which is health." 




.-]7~\E-0UTLriNG-C0A^T 




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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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